Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Arabic Tale of Buluqiya

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Arabic Tale of Buluqiya are both stories that depict the hero’s journey and the smaller tasks that advance the great one. In both works, the main undertaking of the hero is a ring said to grant immortality and the power to control all living things. However, the focus of the Tale of Buluqiya is the search for said ring while that of the film series is the destruction of the ring due to its differing origin. The call to adventure and exposure to the ring and its existence comes in a similar matter in both works, prompted by the absence of the main character’s father figure, but while Frodo articulates a refusal to the call from his mentor, Buluqiya searches for the guide that will help him achieve his goal. A similarity between both works is the supernatural aid they get not only from their guide but other beings and that there are many obstacles for them to overcome to arrive at their final destination. Once the journey is done our protagonists have both changed, unable to return to the place they once were.

The beginning of both The Fellowship of the Ring and the Tale of Buluqia describes the origin of the ring. In the film, it is stated: “In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret a Master Ring to control all others… and into this Ring he poured his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all life. One ring to rule them all…” A war later ensued due to this ring and even those who fought against Sauron succumbed to the ring’s power. Therefore, from the very beginning the ring has a definite negative association with all things evil. Meanwhile, in the Tale of Buluqia, the ring is said to be “the magic ring which Adam, father o...

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... fill Middle-earth. Though he “set out to save the Shire, and it [was] saved,” it was not saved for him, for “[t]here are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep. That have taken hold.”

The differences in the protagonists and the journey they embark in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Series and the Arabic Tale of Buluqiya shows the difference in the cultures that created them. For one, The Lord of the Rings shows that the hero does not seek the task but is presented to him and any rewards that come from it are circumstantial. In our culture, one does not look well upon someone who seeks wealth and eternal life, but someone who puts the needs of others before his or her own. We see heroes as those who are able to be the best person possible, not giving in to the temptations of the world, but doing that which is beneficial for all beings.